Читать реферат по английскому: "Employee Assistance Programs Essay Research Paper Employee" Страница 2

(Назад) (Cкачать работу)

treatment facilities. This assumption is only valid for the EAP’s of the 1970’s

that focused almost entirely on alcoholism. The major difference between the

early programs and the modern is in the training of the supervisor. In the

early programs they trained supervisors to identify problem drinkers based on

their symptoms and to refer them to the company’s medical department. Today,

EAP’s train supervisors to manage the problems affecting job performance and to

refer poorly performing employees to the EAP for diagnosis and treatment of the

“underlying” personal problems. This assumption leads to studies being purely

derived from the outcome and generally state that employees who use the program

show an increase in job performance.

A most recent study surveyed 508 human-resource professionals, used

several statistics that were not based on the “balance.” Released in April of

1995 the study shows that replacing workers who have behavioral health problems

or not treating them will cost companies much more than it costs to finance the

treatment. On the average it costs more that $7,000 to replace one salaried

worker, $10,000 for a mid-level employee and $40,000 for a senior executive.

For every dollar invested in an EAP, a loss of $5 to $7 is avoided. Time missed

from work will decrease by 66%, and about 12 percent of employees at one time or

another will use the program if it is available. Employees who were closely

involved with their companies EAP found them to be effective and said the

program resulted in a better work attitude and increased lob performance.

Since the beginning of time people have been trying to help people.

This idea never occurred to the corporations until alcohol and drug abuse began

to run wild during the Industrial Revolution. Large companies were formed and

people turned to alcohol for a release. The big companies began to see the

decrease in productivity and that meant lost money. As in any company the true

goal is to make money and only recently in the fields of Human Resource

Management with the study of behavioral sciences have corporations decided to

address employees as people. Believing employee behavior is not only due to

human relationships but due to changes in the organization too. Things like

Downsizing and changes in technology will influence employee’s behavior in

mostly negative ways. The corporation is no longer a force that cannot be

beaten.

EAP’s are a very important part of the new world company. They are an

effective and worthwhile ventures on any scale. Every company from three to

3,000 employees needs to have some sort of EAP. With the overwhelming self-

serving attitudes people have today getting a person to commit him/herself to

the company is almost impossible unless they feel as though the company has

committed its self to them. A well designed and maintained EAP will do just

that.

Like anything there are some parts of an EAP that are most important.

No matter how well thought through the best EAP could fail and that is what must

be avoided. Sinking money into a program that will not give any sort of payback

is wasteful. This being the time of the Downsize when companies are trying to

get the most bang for the buck you must be careful not to cut your EAP to the

bare minimum, don’t get caught up in the statistics. The only way to truly tell

if you have an effective program is to count the uses. If the program is being

used then the chances are extremely good that it is working. EAP’s are not self

installing /self running programs. As supervisors we must keep our ears open to

new ideas and suggestions, constantly trying to improve the system. This is why

having dedicated personnel or good volunteers is so important.

In conclusion Employee Assistance Programs are definitely worth the

hassle. There is overwhelming evidence supporting the need for these programs

in every company. We must strive to help our employees help themselves as much

as possible. Happy employees’ and a cohesive work group are the most important

quality’s a business could possibly have. If you don’t think it is working then

fix it. Cutting back on an EAP is the key to your businesses’ end.

Похожие работы